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Local Help On Way For Tornado Victims

Local Help On Way For Tornado Victims

Rachel Rodemann • Times Record / Bliss Cupcake employee Haley Ramage counts red velvet cupcakes for a customer, Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at the Fort Smith store. Bliss locations will be donating all proceeds from teh red velvet cupcakes to the Red Cross of Arkansas to help with disaster relief following the tornadoes that hit Vilonia and Mayflower.

Volunteers, schools and businesses ranging from cupcake bakeries to liquor stores in and around Fort Smith have pooled together their resources to bring items, money and relief to the hardest-hit areas of central Arkansas.

A devastating tornado ripped through central Arkansas on Sunday evening, leaving 10 people confirmed dead in Faulkner County, three in Pulaski County and one in White County, along with one person killed in Quapaw in northeastern Oklahoma in a separate tornado Sunday.

Ed Rouse of Fort Smith and Jessica Post of Van Buren are two volunteers among 11 others dispatched so far this week to central Arkansas from northwest Arkansas through the American Red Cross in Fort Smith. The two headed to Faulkner County, particularly the areas of Vilonia and Mayflower, to help with providing shelter, food and bulk distribution of materials, said Travis Cooper with the Fort Smith office.

Rouse said after experiencing the deadly tornado that swept through Fort Smith in 1996, he wanted to be a part of the effort to bring relief to the site of destruction so close to home.

“We’re one of the spokes in the wheel, and you just make the wheel stronger,” he said.

Post said she has never participated in such a relief effort.

“I’m eager to get down there and start helping people,” she said. “I can’t even imagine what the people are going through there.”

The two are set to stay in the area until at least Saturday. The Fort Smith office likely will dispatch more volunteers throughout the week, Cooper said.

Alma High School is holding a tornado relief drive through Friday to collect items like basic toiletries, towels and soap. Chaffin Junior High also is hosting a supply drive at Harry Robinson Buick/GMC, 6000 S. 36th St.

Items such as batteries, disposable plates and silverware, flashlights, diapers, baby food, formula and wipes, personal hygiene items, work gloves, tarps and nonperishable food can be dropped off at Russell Cellular, 1910 S. Zero St. A pickup and trailer will arrive Friday from 1-6 p.m. to load up the supplies and take them to central Arkansas, said Jaime Goswick with KISR 93.7 FM, which partnered with local organizations for the event.

Belle Starr Antiques, 21 N. Fourth St., has been collecting food, crates and bedding for pets, along with cash donations for animal shelters in Vilonia and Mayflower. The shop will collect the items during business hours, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., through Saturday.

“This is something that might be overlooked,” said Beth Templeton, the store’s owner.

Bliss Cupcakes, 7110 Rogers Ave., Suite 111, dedicated all of the proceeds Tuesday from sales of their red velvet cupcakes to the Red Cross in Faulkner County.

“People have come in specifically for the red velvet,” said owner Taylor Magee. “I think it’s going to be something good for everybody.”

Wild Hog Liquors, at the Stonewood Village Shopping Center near Rogers Avenue and 74th Street, began collecting water, diapers, formula, flashlights, work gloves, towels, toilet paper and other necessities during business hours. Employee Wes Brown said the store will make a delivery to central Arkansas on Friday.

A list of several needed items can be found at the Sawyer’s Inc. Facebook page. Donations will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 8605 U.S. 271 S. The company asks that donations be limited to what is on the list, which excludes clothing, food and cash, said Laurie Sawyer.

First Security Bank has set up an account for monetary donations that will provide food, shelter and personal items for the survivors and volunteers in the area. Bank locations throughout the state also will accept items that will be taken to distribution centers in Faulkner, White and Pulaski counties, according to a news release from the bank.

The Heart of Arkansas United Way, which focuses primarily on the recovery effort, has raised about $25,000 so far between its North Little Rock and Conway offices, said the chapter’s president, John Nazzaro.

A donation button is on the home page at www.heartaruw.org. Checks can also be mailed to the United Way Disaster Assistance and Rebuilding Fund, P.O. Box 798, North Little Rock, AR 72115.

Donations also can be made to Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS, redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999, and to the Salvation Army at 1-800-SAL-ARMY, salvationarmyusa.org or text STORM to 80888.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s Consumer Protection Division has issued tips to avoid phony charities and scams that try to take advantage of the situation.

A news release from McDaniel’s office advises residents to confirm the validity of the charity, be cautious of donating to sites promoted solely through social media, double-check crowd funding sites, give to a trusted organization and make donations through a secure website.